| Setting
Up A Wireless Network
Once you've
decided to free yourself by "going wireless," you can reap
all the benefits of mobile computing — and it's simple and
easy to set up and operate a wireless network. Here's how to
plan for, install and operate your Wi-FiŽ network:
Wi-Fi
devices "connect" to each other by transmitting and
receiving signals on a specific frequency of the radio band.
Your components can connect to each other directly (this is
called "peer-to-peer") or through a
gateway or
access point. When you create your
Wi-Fi network it will consist of two basic components: Wi-Fi
radios and access points or gateways.
Wi-Fi radios
are embedded or attached to the desktop computers, laptops
and mobile devices in your network. The access points or
gateways act as "base stations" — they send and receive
signals from the Wi-Fi radios to connect the various
components to each other as well as to the Internet. All
computers in your Wi-Fi network can then share resources,
exchange files and use a single Internet connection.
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A peer-to-peer
network is composed of several Wi-Fi equipped computers
talking to each other without using a base station (an
access point or gateway). All Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ equipment
supports this type of wireless set-up, which can be useful
for transferring data between computers or sharing an
Internet connection among a few computers in a room. A
peer-to-peer wireless network can be a good solution if you
have three or fewer computers or if you're on a budget but
most users will use an access point to connect Wi-Fi devices
since this will provide for the best user experience and
allow for easier Internet sharing.
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Laptops
Many laptop computers and mobile computing devices come with
a Wi-Fi radio built in. They're ready to operate wirelessly.
For most other laptops you will insert a Wi-Fi radio
embedded in a simple
PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association) card — commonly called a PC
Card — into the laptop's expansion slot.
Desktops
You have several ways to include desktop computers in your
network. Since most don't provide slots for PC Cards, the
simplest method is to use a
USB (Universal Serial Bus) Wi-Fi
radio that plugs into an available USB port on your desktop
computer. Install the software and you're up and running.
If you
have no available USB port on your system, you need to
install a
PCI
or
ISA
bus solution. This requires you to remove your computer
casing and open up your computer to find an available PCI or
ISA bus slot. The manufacturer's set-up instructions will
show you how to install the device you purchase. (Some Wi-Fi
manufacturers provide one-piece ISA and PCI bus radios.
Others provide ISA or PCI bus adapters that enable you to
use the same slide-in Wi-Fi PC Cards that you would use in
your laptop.) Apple offers an embedded Wi-Fi radio, the
Apple AirPort Radio, which you can personally install in new
Macintosh computers.
PDAs
Personal Digital Assistants like Palm™, Visor™ and Pocket
PC™ have a slot for a Compact Flash format Wi-Fi radio.
(Some laptops also have Compact Flash capability.) There are
also new small-format Wi-Fi radios for PDAs and mobile data
devices becoming available, offering additional options for
wireless connections in the future.
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The
Wi-Fi access point or gateway functions as the base station
for your network. This is the central connection among all
your wireless client devices—laptop computers, PDAs, desktop
computers and wireless peripherals like printers. The base
station sends and receives radio signals to and from the
Wi-Fi radio in your laptop or PC, enabling you to share your
Internet connection with other users on the network. Access
points and gateways have a wide range of features and
performance capabilities, but they all provide this basic
network connection service.
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Wi-Fi
networks, like wired networks, are a shared medium. An
802.11b Wi-Fi network may provide 11 Mbps of bandwidth to an
individual user. Theoretically, if ten users are
simultaneously using the network, each will have to share
and may only get 1 Mbps or so each. However, network sharing
is not quite this simple. A lot depends on the users'
behaviors. Someone who is just sending and receiving e-mail
just uses the wireless connection in bursts. They will
probably never notice any slow down. On the other hand, a
roomful of Wi-Fi users who are accessing high-resolution
multimedia over a single access point may indeed notice a
slowdown. In this instance, they may require additional
access points or higher speed access points that use 802.11a
or 802.11g that provide 54 Mbps or better of bandwidth.
Depending on
how the users connect and what they do once they are on the
network, you may need to use higher speed access points, as
well as more of them.
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To set up a
Wi-Fi network, you need to consider the components, the
users and how you will use the network. The following
checklist shows you how to choose components:
Most homes
have three computers at most, while a small business usually
has fewer than 15. Each component will need a Wi-Fi radio.
Determine the number of radio components you need:
If your
laptops are not preconfigured with an embedded Wi-Fi radio,
you need a Wi-Fi PC Card radio for each.
How many
laptops do you have?
_____ Needing
PC Card
_____
Preconfigured (contain an internal Wi-Fi NIC)
Each of your
desktops will need either a Wi-Fi USB adapter (which
combines a PC Card radio with a USB converter circuit) or a
Wi-Fi PCI/ISA adapter (which is a radio available with or
without a built-in PC Card reader).
How many
desktop computers do you have?
_____ PCs
with sufficient USB jacks for USB adapter hookup (requires
Windows™ 98 or newer)
_____ PCs
that need PCI or ISA adapter
_____ PCs
with existing PC Card slots
Your PDAs
will also need radio devices. Some can use the same PC Card
used in laptops; some use Compact Flash.
How many
PDAs do you have?
_____ Needing
PC Card
_____ Using
Compact Flash
_____ TOTAL
Wi-Fi Radio Components Needed
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After
you've determined the number and type of Wi-Fi radios you
need, install a radio in each component that you want to
include in your network.
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You
will also need a Wi-Fi access point or gateway to serve as
the central base station for your network. A typical Wi-Fi
access point can support some 15 to 20 users, so most homes
and small offices need only a single access point. However,
if you have a very large dwelling (or house) or if your
office is spread out, you may need more. How far will your
WLAN go? A basic rule of thumb is 100 to 300 feet indoors
and 2000 feet outdoors. Your range may vary, based on the
building or environment you're using it in. See
Access Point Range Guide.
Of course,
the number of access points depends on how the network is
used and the total number of users, as well as how big a
space needs to be covered. A single access point can easily
handle from 10 to 30 users who only use the network to send
e-mail, cruise the Internet and occasionally save and
retrieve large files. Within a typical office environment,
most access points can provide good wireless coverage up to
150 feet or so. For large facilities with many users, or
with users who require a lot of bandwidth, you may need more
than a single access point. Many access points can be
connected to each other wirelessly or via Ethernet cables to
create a single large network.
How many
users do you have, and is your space unusually large?
_____ Typical
users
(sending
e-mail, cruising the Internet and occasionally saving and
retrieving large files). Solution = single access point
_____ More
demanding users
(Transferring
very large files often, access and use streaming video).
Solution = multiple access points clustered together using
different channels
_____ Large
working area
(In excess of
300 feet as in a warehouse or large open office). Solution =
multiple access points spread out
_____
Estimated Total Wi-Fi Base Stations Needed
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You can
use a variety of high-speed Internet connections with a
Wi-Fi network, including cable modems, different types of
DSL,
satellite broadband,
ISDN, etc. Your broadband Internet
connection will connect to your gateway or access point, and
its Internet connection will be distributed to all the
computers on your network. And don't worry about Wi-Fi
slowing down your connection speed: it's at least four times
faster than the fastest of any of these connections. If
there's an
Ethernet
cable attached to your Internet device, you can connect it
to your base station to distribute your Internet connection
throughout your home or small office Wi-Fi network.
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If you want
to share printers, you can connect them to a computer on the
network, you can dedicate a Wi-Fi equipped computer to act
as a printer server or you can connect a Wi-Fi equipped
printer or print server to your network to control your
print jobs. (A shared printer connected to a computer must
have the computer turned on to access the printer via the
wireless Wi-Fi connection.)
A wireless
print server is a small computer and Wi-Fi radio built into
a single box; a Wi-Fi equipped printer connects directly to
your Wi-Fi network. A Wi-Fi print server or a Wi-Fi equipped
printer can make your printer accessible to your network.
Many
additional Wi-Fi enabled devices will soon be appearing.
Each will have its own embedded Wi-Fi radio to connect
directly to your network. That means you won't need to
connect your Wi-Fi peripherals to an always-on computer or a
stand-alone Wi-Fi radio adapter. These devices can include
scanners, cameras, telephony devices, video and TV monitors,
DVD players, appliance controllers, multimedia players and
recorders.
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Yes. If
you don't need to have each computer on the network all the
time, you can save money by sharing the PC Cards for your
laptops and other mobile computing devices and the USB
radio/adapters for your PCs and laptops. For example, when
you're working in the office, your USB radio can be
connected to your desktop computer. When you go on the road
with your laptop, the same USB device can connect to your
laptop computer's USB slot to provide mobile connectivity.
When you're at home, you can hook the same USB radio to your
desktop computer and use it to access your home Wi-Fi
network.
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|
Types
of Equipment 
Setting
Up 
Adding Wi-Fi to a Desktop
Security